Brief Report: Reduced Cell-Associated HTLV-2 DNA in Antiretroviral Treated HIV-1-HCV-Coinfected Patients Who Either Received Interferon-α/Ribavirin-Based Hepatitis C Therapy or Had Spontaneous HCV RNA Clearance

Abstract

We analyzed the effect of interferon α (IFN-α) and ribavirin (RBV) therapy on cell-associated human T-lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) DNA in HIV-1-coinfected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. Sixty-one patients under suppressive antiretroviral therapy were included: 37 with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, 15 with sustained virologic response (N = 10), relapse (N = 2), or with nonresponse (N = 3) after IFN-α/RBV treatment, and 9 with spontaneous HCV RNA clearance. Patients who were treated with IFN-α/RBV or had spontaneous HCV clearance had lower level of cell-associated HTLV-2 DNA (P = 0.022 and P = 0.040, respectively). Both IFN-alpha treatment and the ability to spontaneously clear HCV infection seem to reduce cell-associated HTLV-2 DNA in HIV-1-coinfected patients.